Guardare, osservare, vedere. Workshop a Serralunga d'Alba: una nuova terrazza per guardare le Langhe

L'articolo recensisce il workshop di progettazione svolto a Serralunga d'Alba con 15 studenti dei corsi di laurea e laurea magistrale in Architettura, per ridisegnare una piazza urbana/belveder

The ways to Superga. History and Design Studio projects for year 2012-2013

The e-book, specifically imaginated for foreign students, presents a selection of essays by the "History and Design Studio" teachers and collaborators to underline methodologically the relevance of the historical approach to the design. The specificity of the imposant baroque architecture of Superga Church, at the top of Torino Hills (the so called "Montagne de Turin" by ancient cartography) is related to the contest and to the city. Design proposals and solutions, equally are strongly connected to the landscape analysis. The book then proposes the students answer to these complex topics by a series of "atlas" interpretations and design suggestions. The deep analysis on cultural components, architectural monuments and urban organization is surely the main force of these projects in which the few projected solutions are able to dialogue truly with the contest. The presentations by the Course director and by the resposable of the lanscape administration (Parco del Po e della collina torinese) show the importante of the cooperation between associations and university to propose solutions able to dialogue with the complexity of nowadays cultural contest. With contributions by Fulvio Capurso, Maria Vittoria Cattaneo, Vittorio Defabiani, Luca Malvicino, Rachele Vicario and presentations by the Director of Studies and Superga Park responsible and collaborato

Multimedia digital solutions from image and range based models for ancient landscapes communication

The paper presents the results of an interdisciplinary project which aimed at the dissemination of some archaeological remains producing multimedia contents from multisensor surveyed 3D data. The scope of this application pertained to the use of 3D detailed models as a base for some video-installations with the aim to arouse the visitors’ emotions and improve their museum experience. This work has been applied to the Arch of Augustus located in the archaeological site of Susa and to two ancient Roman marble statues, found in the city of Susa in 1802 and now displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Turin. The Arch of Augustus is in a remarkable state of conservation. Its decorated frieze tells about the peace between the Romans and the Celts but it is difficult to see for visitors at the ground level. A multisensor 3D survey, by means of laser scanning technique and photogrammetric method, made it possible to process a detailed 3D textured model, which provided the base for the creation of a life-size model to be placed in the Museum of Susa on which a designed didactic video map is projected, which explains the meaning of the frieze. The two statues, known as ‘busti loricati di Susa’ and representing two Roman emperors, were surveyed with a photogrammetric method with the aim of processing two 3D models representing the statues before the 19th century restoration, on the basis of archival sources. These models provided the base for a video installation for the museum which simulates a holographic projection and explains the different armour parts highlighting them in sequence. Nowadays modern metric survey technologies allow us to collect and process very detailed 3D models able to satisfy a wide variety of applications field, from specialized representation to didactic final uses in museums exhibitions

Operation and modelling of RO desalination process in batch mode

YesThe performance of a batch reverse osmosis (RO) desalination process in terms of permeate quantity and salinity as a function of feed pressure and feed salinity is evaluated by using laboratory experiments and process modelling. Special attention is paid to the water and salt permeability constants (Kw, Ks) which affect the permeate and salt flux across the membrane. Kw and Ks are found to be strongly pressure-dependent for the batch system which is in-line with earlier observations for continuous RO systems. However, the most important findings of this work are the dependence of Kw and Ks on feed salinity, something that have never been observed or reported in the literature. In order to better qualify these observations, further experiments with the batch system are conducted with a constant feed salinity so that the operating condition resembles that of a continuous RO process

Patient understanding of liver cirrhosis and improvement using multimedia education

Objective For patients to engage with the long-term management of liver cirrhosis, sufficient understanding of their condition is essential. The aim of this study was to assess baseline patient knowledge and to test whether a condition-specific multimedia screencast could improve this. Design Service quality improvement study. Setting A UK tertiary liver centre. Patients were recruited during 12 general hepatology outpatient clinics. Patients Fifty-two patients with liver cirrhosis were included. Sixty-two per cent were male; their median age was 56 years and their median clinic attendance period was 3 years. Interventions Participants completed a baseline questionnaire assessing their knowledge of the management and complications of cirrhosis. They then watched a tailored screencast discussing this condition, which had been developed by expert hepatologists in collaboration with patient representatives. Knowledge was reassessed using a new copy of the original questionnaire after an interval of at least one month. Main outcome measures Patient scores on knowledge questionnaires at baseline and follow-up. Results Fifty-two patients achieved a median score of 25.0% before viewing the screencast. Thirty-five patients then completed a follow-up questionnaire after an interval period. The median questionnaire score in this group improved from 25.0% to 66.7%; an increase of 41.7% compared with baseline (p<0.001). Conclusions Despite regular review at a specialist clinic, participants had poor baseline knowledge of liver cirrhosis. Delivering information by screencast led to a significant improvement. We therefore present an effective way to empower patients with accurate, up-to-date and retainable information that can easily be translated to many other conditions

Digital Segusio: from models generation to urban reconstruction

[EN] The reconstructive study of the urban arrangement of Susa in the 4th century arose from the intention to exploit some resources derived from local studies, and survey activities, fulfilled by innovative methods from which the modelling of architectural heritage (AH) and virtual reconstructions are derived. The digital Segusio presented in this paper is the result of intensive discussion and exchange of data and information during the urban landscape documentation activities, and due to the technology of virtual model generation, making it possible to recreate the charm of an ancient landscape. The land survey has been accomplished using aerial and terrestrial acquisition systems, mainly through digital photogrammetry from UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and terrestrial laser scanning. Results obtained from both the methods have been integrated into the medium scale geographical data from the regional map repository, and some processing and visualization supported by GIS (Geographical Information System) has been achieved. Subsequently, with the help of accurate and detailed DEM (Digital Elevation Model) and other architectural scale models related to the ancient heritage, this ancient landscape was modelled. The integration of the history of this city with digital and multimedia resources will be offered to the public in the city museum housed in the restored castle of Maria Adelaide (Savoy dynasty, 11th century), which stands in the place where the acropolis of the city of Susa lay in ancient times.A special acknowledgment goes to the Foundation Cassa di Risparmio di Torino, who made the realization of this work possible (through a loan granted under the "Exponent Project 2015"). The city of Susa and the architect Maria Pia Dal Bianco (castle restoration and setting up of the Civic Museum designer), who participated actively in the initiative's success. The DIRECT team (working in the field of advanced technologies, 3D Metric survey, for the on going education of students from the areas of Architecture and Engineering in relation to the promotion and protection of the territory and built heritage) participated in the survey campaign and data processing in 2013, and above all Elisabetta Donadio. We would also like to thank Dr. Enrico Maggi –PhD in Arch.– who has deepened the study and the graphic representation of the walls of Segusio.Spanò, A.; Chiabrando, F.; Dezzani, L.; Prencipe, A. (2016). Digital Segusio: from models generation to urban reconstruction. Virtual Archaeology Review. 7(15):87-97. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2016.5874SWORD879771

Artificial neural network based modelling and optimization of refined palm oil process

YesThe content and concentration of beta-carotene, tocopherol and free fatty acid is one of the important parameters that affect the quality of edible oil. In simulation based studies for refined palm oil process, three variables are usually used as input parameters which are feed flow rate (F), column temperature (T) and pressure (P). These parameters influence the output concentration of beta-carotene, tocopherol and free fatty acid. In this work, we develop 2 different ANN models; the first ANN model based on 3 inputs (F, T, P) and the second model based on 2 inputs (T and P). Artificial neural network (ANN) models are set up to describe the simulation. Feed forward back propagation neural networks are designed using different architecture in MATLAB toolbox. The effects of numbers for neurons and layers are examined. The correlation coefficient for this study is greater than 0.99; it is in good agreement during training and testing the models. Moreover, it is found that ANN can model the process accurately, and is able to predict the model outputs very close to those predicted by ASPEN HYSYS simulator for refined palm oil process. Optimization of the refined palm oil process is performed using ANN based model to maximize the concentration of beta-carotene and tocopherol at residue and free fatty acid at distillate